Students from 16 Davidson County public and private schools will hear oral arguments in three state Supreme Court cases Thursday, Oct. 2, as participants in a program designed to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial system.
The 450 high school students and their teachers will attend a special Tennessee Supreme Court session in the gymnasium at Davidson County Drug Court IV, 1406 County Hospital Road. Each of three groups of students will hear arguments in one actual case beginning at 8:45 a.m. followed by a question and answer session with the attorneys for both sides in the cases.
Chief Justice Janice M. Holder and Justices Cornelia A. Clark, Gary R. Wade and William C. Koch, Jr., will be joined by retired Justice E. Riley Anderson. The court has a vacant position, so Anderson agreed to sit for the SCALES session.
Schools participating in SCALES - an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students - are McGavock High School, Pearl-Cohn Business Magnet High School, Whites Creek Comprehensive High School, East Literature Magnet School, Ezell Harding Christian School, Glencliff High School, Hunters Lane High School, Maplewood High School, Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School, Donelson Christian Academy, Father Ryan High School, Franklin Road Academy, Goodpasture Christian School, Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville Christian School and University School of Nashville.
Since the Supreme Court initiated SCALES in1995, 19,858 students from 420 schools have participated. The court conducts SCALES programs statewide at the request of local judges and members of the Bar.
“The students with whom we interact as we conduct SCALES programs across the state give us confidence that our nation's future is secure,” Holder said. “The SCALES program helps students understand the importance of maintaining an independent judicial system and gives them an opportunity to see first-hand how the Judicial Branch operates. Our luncheon program provides us with an opportunity to visit with some of the state's finest young people. We are impressed by the questions the students ask us and with their plans for the future.”
Participating students and teachers in Nashville will join the Supreme Court, local judges, attorneys and other guests for lunch and a brief program. The meal is being sponsored by trial judges and the Bar.
Teachers whose classes are involved in the project attended a three-hour professional development session Aug. 29 conducted by Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry Smith and Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn. The session included a review of cases to be argued at SCALES. The teachers also were provided with notebooks of materials to use in their classrooms, including suggested activities, and SCALES Project handbooks for each student.
Local judges and attorneys met with teachers at the professional development session to schedule classroom visits to review the cases and issues to be considered by the Supreme Court. After justices rule in the cases, copies of the court's opinions will be provided to the classes and posted on the court system website at www.tncourts.gov.
Issues in the cases students will hear include whether court rules permit the plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit to ask the defendant to disclose information about his liability insurance coverage; whether a trial court judge erred in excluding the testimony of a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders that a rape defendant may have committed his crimes while sleepwalking; and whether the owner of an apartment complex is liable for the death of a tenant caused by the criminal activity of another tenant.